(My Personal) Meal Frequency
I'm a 4 meals per day kinda gal. It's been this way for a while, and it's my sweet spot I sorta fell into by default and stuck with out of enjoyment and ease. Every so often, I'll end up eating 3 meals (more likely on lower calorie days), and even more infrequently than that, it will be 4 meals and a snack. But mostly, it's 4 meals. I'm not picky about this number or spending a lot of time thinking or stressing about meal frequency. My main goal is to get my food in for the day and not let myself get hangry, and simply by default, my meal patterning is the way it is. This isn't a post to convert anyone to any specific meal frequency, pattern, or timing. It's simply an overview of my personal current system.
I usually eat breakfast around 10 or 11 am. Even on days I'm up early, I wait to have my first meal. This isn't in pursuit of any specific intermittent fasting protocol; it's simply a way for me to keep my total daily calories in check without getting too hungry between meals. For example, Friday's are my early days, with a 7:30 am client. If I ate breakfast at 7 am before leaving the house, I'd be starving again by 10 or 11 am. By not eating breakfast first thing in the morning, hunger dissipates, and I'm able to "break my fast" later in the morning (usually around 10:30) and shorten my overall "window" of eating. This keeps me from eating through my calories too soon in the day, finishing my food by 6 pm, and going into the evening hungry. I'm pretty miserable if I get through my food too quickly during the day and am hungry at night, so actually having a satisfying and filling meal to eat around 8 pm is super important to me.
My meals are usually spaced 3-4 hours apart. Evidence suggests that larges boluses of protein are superior for resistance trained individuals. With my total protein intake for the day at 120g, that leaves me with 4 meals of an even 30g protein each. I'm pretty strict with this (have been for years) and pretty much every single one of my meals is at the 30g protein mark. 25-30g protein is usually the minimum recommendation for maximizing muscle protein synthesis (and thus hitting the leucine threshold), and it fits perfectly within my 4 meals/day.
Nutrient timing does matter. For an extreme example, try eating your entire week's worth of food in one meal and see how that works out. Likewise, I'm just not convinced that eating your entire day's worth of food in one large meal is optimal, as you're likely missing out on other opportunities to spike muscle protein synthesis with large boluses of protein. (This is not to hate on any intermittent fasting protocols. With an 8 hour feeding window, you could easily get in three large boluses of protein.) Ultimately, the best protocol for you is the one you can stick to in the long haul, and total daily intake is likely more important than the timing of that intake over the course of the day.
That said, I do consider some sort of nutrient timing with my carbs and fats as well. I find that eating a good amount of my fats in the morning keeps me feeling fuller for longer. I find that I perform better in the gym when I have a decent amount of carbs pre-workout, and I find that my recovery is better when I have a decent amount of carbs post-workout. On my high calorie days (and high carb days, 260g carbs), I'm usually having ~80g carbs pre-workout and ~100g carbs post-workout. On my lower calorie days (and lower carb days, 155g carbs), I'm usually having ~50g pre-workout and ~50g post-workout. What I won't do, however, is change my total daily intake just for timing purposes. Total daily intake has priority.
Research supports the importance of protein and carbs post-workout. Lately, the idea of an immediate and fleeting "post-workout anabolic window of opportunity" has come into question. For the majority of folks, 3-6 hours between the pre-workout meal, the workout, and the post-workout meal is sufficient. If one ate closer to the start of the workout, there's likely more wiggle room on the end. If one's workout took place further from the pre-workout meal, it's likely more important to eat sooner after finishing the workout. If one had a large mixed meal (containing carbs, proteins, and fats) with significant protein, that meal is likely to stay in the system longer. I only bring this up to try to ease any stress and anxiety about slamming down a whey + dextrose shake within 30 seconds of finishing your last set for fear of losing all the #gainz. With a larger calorie allowance, you could argue that it wouldn't hurt. For me, with a smaller calorie allowance, I choose not to go this route.
That said, I perform best with a full stomach, and I'm usually eating right before I work out. I'm also starving right after my workout, and I'm usually eating as soon as I'm back home. This leaves me with roughly 3 hours between eating, getting to the gym, warming up, finishing my lift, doing any cardio, cooling down, stretching, rolling, packing up all my shit, taking any gym selfies ;), and getting back home. Most of my meals are 3-4 hours apart, and this one is no different.
Eating every 2 hours does not "stoke the metabolic fire". While eating 6 or 7 small meals per day may keep some people perpetually full if it keeps any substantial feelings of hunger at bay, it may do just the opposite for others, keeping some people perpetually hungry if their meals never actually fill them up in the first place. (I find myself in the 2nd category.) With 1350 calories currently on my low days, that would give me 7 meals at 193 cals each. At that point, they're not even meals. They're just small snacks. This is a sentiment I've gleaned from some of Lyle McDonald's articles, and drives home just how important individual context is. (You also run into issues with trying to get boluses of protein. 7 meals at 17g of protein each are unlikely to maximize muscle protein synthesis.) For those on lower calories, fewer but larger meals can be a great option. On my low days, I'd rather opt for 3 large meals that actually fill me up and leave me feeling satisfied, rather than 7 small snacks that constantly leave me wanting more. For people with much higher calories, 3 or even 4 large meals may leave you so sickly full that you dread eating. Several smaller meals (but still large in comparison to 193 cals) may be your ticket to ensuring that you get your food in for the day. Everyone is different here, and you'll never know which you prefer until you try it out.
So that pretty much summarizes my current nutritional habits. Like I said, this is the routine I've sort of fallen into after some trial and error and figuring out what makes me feel the best, have better workouts, feel better recovered, stay fuller (or at least not get too hungry) throughout the day, stick to my daily macros, etc. Each person is likely to be different. I'm not married to any one single idea here, and if/when I find strategies I like better, I'm not afraid to abandon my old habits and adopt new ones. :)
I usually eat breakfast around 10 or 11 am. Even on days I'm up early, I wait to have my first meal. This isn't in pursuit of any specific intermittent fasting protocol; it's simply a way for me to keep my total daily calories in check without getting too hungry between meals. For example, Friday's are my early days, with a 7:30 am client. If I ate breakfast at 7 am before leaving the house, I'd be starving again by 10 or 11 am. By not eating breakfast first thing in the morning, hunger dissipates, and I'm able to "break my fast" later in the morning (usually around 10:30) and shorten my overall "window" of eating. This keeps me from eating through my calories too soon in the day, finishing my food by 6 pm, and going into the evening hungry. I'm pretty miserable if I get through my food too quickly during the day and am hungry at night, so actually having a satisfying and filling meal to eat around 8 pm is super important to me.
My meals are usually spaced 3-4 hours apart. Evidence suggests that larges boluses of protein are superior for resistance trained individuals. With my total protein intake for the day at 120g, that leaves me with 4 meals of an even 30g protein each. I'm pretty strict with this (have been for years) and pretty much every single one of my meals is at the 30g protein mark. 25-30g protein is usually the minimum recommendation for maximizing muscle protein synthesis (and thus hitting the leucine threshold), and it fits perfectly within my 4 meals/day.
Nutrient timing does matter. For an extreme example, try eating your entire week's worth of food in one meal and see how that works out. Likewise, I'm just not convinced that eating your entire day's worth of food in one large meal is optimal, as you're likely missing out on other opportunities to spike muscle protein synthesis with large boluses of protein. (This is not to hate on any intermittent fasting protocols. With an 8 hour feeding window, you could easily get in three large boluses of protein.) Ultimately, the best protocol for you is the one you can stick to in the long haul, and total daily intake is likely more important than the timing of that intake over the course of the day.
That said, I do consider some sort of nutrient timing with my carbs and fats as well. I find that eating a good amount of my fats in the morning keeps me feeling fuller for longer. I find that I perform better in the gym when I have a decent amount of carbs pre-workout, and I find that my recovery is better when I have a decent amount of carbs post-workout. On my high calorie days (and high carb days, 260g carbs), I'm usually having ~80g carbs pre-workout and ~100g carbs post-workout. On my lower calorie days (and lower carb days, 155g carbs), I'm usually having ~50g pre-workout and ~50g post-workout. What I won't do, however, is change my total daily intake just for timing purposes. Total daily intake has priority.
Research supports the importance of protein and carbs post-workout. Lately, the idea of an immediate and fleeting "post-workout anabolic window of opportunity" has come into question. For the majority of folks, 3-6 hours between the pre-workout meal, the workout, and the post-workout meal is sufficient. If one ate closer to the start of the workout, there's likely more wiggle room on the end. If one's workout took place further from the pre-workout meal, it's likely more important to eat sooner after finishing the workout. If one had a large mixed meal (containing carbs, proteins, and fats) with significant protein, that meal is likely to stay in the system longer. I only bring this up to try to ease any stress and anxiety about slamming down a whey + dextrose shake within 30 seconds of finishing your last set for fear of losing all the #gainz. With a larger calorie allowance, you could argue that it wouldn't hurt. For me, with a smaller calorie allowance, I choose not to go this route.
That said, I perform best with a full stomach, and I'm usually eating right before I work out. I'm also starving right after my workout, and I'm usually eating as soon as I'm back home. This leaves me with roughly 3 hours between eating, getting to the gym, warming up, finishing my lift, doing any cardio, cooling down, stretching, rolling, packing up all my shit, taking any gym selfies ;), and getting back home. Most of my meals are 3-4 hours apart, and this one is no different.
Eating every 2 hours does not "stoke the metabolic fire". While eating 6 or 7 small meals per day may keep some people perpetually full if it keeps any substantial feelings of hunger at bay, it may do just the opposite for others, keeping some people perpetually hungry if their meals never actually fill them up in the first place. (I find myself in the 2nd category.) With 1350 calories currently on my low days, that would give me 7 meals at 193 cals each. At that point, they're not even meals. They're just small snacks. This is a sentiment I've gleaned from some of Lyle McDonald's articles, and drives home just how important individual context is. (You also run into issues with trying to get boluses of protein. 7 meals at 17g of protein each are unlikely to maximize muscle protein synthesis.) For those on lower calories, fewer but larger meals can be a great option. On my low days, I'd rather opt for 3 large meals that actually fill me up and leave me feeling satisfied, rather than 7 small snacks that constantly leave me wanting more. For people with much higher calories, 3 or even 4 large meals may leave you so sickly full that you dread eating. Several smaller meals (but still large in comparison to 193 cals) may be your ticket to ensuring that you get your food in for the day. Everyone is different here, and you'll never know which you prefer until you try it out.
So that pretty much summarizes my current nutritional habits. Like I said, this is the routine I've sort of fallen into after some trial and error and figuring out what makes me feel the best, have better workouts, feel better recovered, stay fuller (or at least not get too hungry) throughout the day, stick to my daily macros, etc. Each person is likely to be different. I'm not married to any one single idea here, and if/when I find strategies I like better, I'm not afraid to abandon my old habits and adopt new ones. :)
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